Quality of Life Affected by Mechanical Organs as a Replacement of Human Organs

IntroductionQuality of life is widely valued in health care. The multidimensional aspects of quality of life have been evaluated in the health-related literature. It includes not only an overall perception of one’s general quality of life, but also specific aspects of physical functioning, emotional and psychological functioning, and social functioning (Landreneau, 2010). Simmons and Abress (1990) defined important dimensions of quality of life, which included measures of physical, emotional, and social well-being; vocational rehabilitation; sexual adjustment; and marital/family adjustment.Hemodialysis PatientsGibson (1995) interviewed 20 adult hemodialysis patients and evaluated the quality of life in the following five categories: life satisfaction, self-esteem, general health, functional status, and socioeconomic status. The result showed the scores on quality of life index were higher for overall.Patients with Left-Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD)Stephen (2006) followed up 6 years with their first 61-year-old patient of end-stage heart failure who had left-ventricular assist device (LVAD) implanted in 2000. The patient was found to have an active and productive life, including international air travel. Only 5% of the follow-up period has been spent in hospital (see image-1). In the study (Rose,2001) from May 1998 through July 2001 at 20 cardiac transplant centers in the United States, 129 patients with symptomatic end-stage heart failure who were ineligible for cardiac transplantation, 68 were randomized to LAVD therapy and 61 to medical standard of care. At 1 year, QOL was better in LAVD groups, are reflected in several measures: emotional state, beck depression inventory, and physical function. Dr. Rose described QOL in LVAD group as “unquestionably improved but not normal, similar to that of patients on hemodialysis.”Patients with Mechanical Ventilator (MV)Few studies evaluated the quality of life for patients dependent on mechanical ventilator. Mu (2010) reviewed the experience of adult ventilator-dependent patients and indicated that ventilator-dependent patients not only feel disoriented in the time and space, they can also feel a sense of disconnection to their body which is linked to strange lines and medical machine. These feelings are in addition to suffering with a prolonged illness. Thus, the ventilator-dependent patients rely heavily on the care of professionals. As a result, the health care providers play an important role to improve the patient’s quality of life.